Editing Orson Welles (section)

== Hollywood (1939–1948) ==
<gallery mode="packed" heights="160px">
File:Citizen Kane poster, 1941 (Style B, unrestored).jpg|''[[Citizen Kane]]'' (1941)
File:The Magnificent Ambersons (1942 film poster).jpg|''[[The Magnificent Ambersons (film)|The Magnificent Ambersons]]'' (1942)
File:Journey into Fear (1942 poster).jpg|''[[Journey into Fear (1943 film)|Journey into Fear]]'' (1943)
File:The Stranger (1946 film poster).jpg|''[[The Stranger (1946 film)|The Stranger]]'' (1946)
File:The Lady from Shanghai (1947 poster).jpg|''[[The Lady from Shanghai]]'' (1947)
File:Macbeth (1948 film poster).jpg|''[[Macbeth (1948 film)|Macbeth]]'' (1948)
</gallery>
[[RKO Radio Pictures]] president [[George J. Schaefer]] ultimately offered Welles what generally is considered the greatest contract offered to a filmmaker, much less to one who was untried. Engaging him to write, produce, direct and perform in two pictures, the contract subordinated the studio's financial interests to Welles's creative control, and broke precedent by granting Welles final cut.<ref name="Carringer 1985" />{{Rp|1–2}} After signing a summary agreement with RKO on July 22, Welles signed a full-length 63-page contract August 21, 1939.<ref name="Welles TIOW" />{{Rp|353}} The agreement was bitterly resented by the Hollywood studios and persistently mocked in the trade press.<ref name="Carringer 1985" />{{Rp|2}}

=== ''Citizen Kane'' ===
{{Main|Citizen Kane}}
[[File:Citizen-Kane-Welles-Podium.jpg|thumb|upright=.8|Welles in ''[[Citizen Kane]]'' (1941)]]

RKO rejected Welles's first two movie proposals,<ref name="Carringer 1985"/>{{Rp|3–15}} but agreed on the third—''[[Citizen Kane]]''. Welles co-wrote, produced, directed and starred in it.<ref name="autogenerated2001">McMahon, Thomas, "Orson Welles", ''Authors & Artists for Young Adults: Vol. 40''. Michigan: Gale Research, 2001 {{ISBN|0-7876-4673-3}}</ref> Welles conceived the project with screenwriter [[Herman J. Mankiewicz]], who was writing radio plays for ''[[The Campbell Playhouse (radio series)|The Campbell Playhouse]]''.<ref name="Carringer 1985">{{cite book |title=The Making of Citizen Kane |url=https://archive.org/details/makingofcitizenk00carr |url-access=registration |last=Carringer |first=Robert L. |publisher=University of California Press |location=Berkeley and Los Angeles California |year=1985 |isbn=978-0-520-20567-3 }}</ref>{{Rp|16}} Mankiewicz based the original outline of the film script on the life of [[William Randolph Hearst]], whom he knew and came to hate after being exiled from Hearst's circle.<ref name="Meryman">{{cite book |last=Meryman |first=Richard |author-link=Richard Meryman |title=Mank: The Wit, World and Life of Herman Mankiewicz |publisher=[[William Morrow and Company]], Inc. |location=New York |date=1978 |isbn=978-0-688-03356-9 |url=https://archive.org/details/mankwitworldlife00mery }}</ref>{{Rp|231}}

After agreeing on the storyline and character, Welles supplied Mankiewicz with 300 pages of notes and put him under contract to write the first-draft screenplay under the supervision of [[John Houseman]]. Welles wrote his own draft,<ref name="Welles TIOW" />{{Rp|54}} then drastically condensed and rearranged both versions and added scenes of his own. The industry accused Welles of underplaying Mankiewicz's contribution to the script, but Welles countered the attacks by saying, "At the end, naturally, I was the one making the picture, after all—who had to make the decisions. I used what I wanted of Mank's and, rightly or wrongly, kept what I liked of my own."<ref name="Welles TIOW" />{{Rp|54}}

For the cast, Welles primarily used actors from his Mercury Theatre, including [[William Alland]],  [[Ray Collins (actor)|Ray Collins]], [[Joseph Cotten]], [[Agnes Moorehead]], [[Erskine Sanford]], [[Everett Sloane]] and [[Paul Stewart (actor)|Paul Stewart]] in their film debuts. Welles's project attracted some of Hollywood's best technicians, including cinematographer [[Gregg Toland]].<ref name="autogenerated2001" /> Welles and Toland made extensive use of [[deep focus]] photography, in which everything in the frame is in focus. Toland explained that he and Welles thought "that if it was possible, the picture should be brought to the screen in such a way that the audience would feel it was looking at reality, rather than merely at a movie." They composed "our angles and compositions so that action which ordinarily would be shown in direct cuts would be shown in a single, longer scene--often one in which important action might take place simultaneously in widely separated points in extreme foreground and background."<ref name=AFI>{{cite web| title=AFI Catalog Citizen Kane| url=https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/27624| access-date=December 30, 2024| archive-date=December 26, 2024| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241226022629/https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/27624| url-status=live}}</ref>

Toland explained their use of deep (or pan) focus: <blockquote> Through its use, it is possible to photograph action from a range of eighteen inches from the camera lens to over two hundred feet away, with extreme foreground and background figures and action both recorded in sharp relief. Hitherto, the camera had to be focused either for a close or a distant shot, all efforts to encompass both at the same time resulting in one or the other being out of focus. This handicap necessitated the breaking up of a scene into long and short angles, with much consequent loss of realism. With pan-focus, the camera, like the human eye, sees an entire panorama at once, with everything clear and lifelike.<ref name=Toland>{{cite news| last=Toland| first=Gregg| author-link=Gregg Toland| title=The American Cameraman| date=September 1941| work=Theater Arts| url=https://www.wellesnet.com/gregg-toland-on-working-with-orson-welles-on-citizen-kane/| archive-date=January 1, 2025| access-date=December 30, 2024| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250101194349/https://www.wellesnet.com/gregg-toland-on-working-with-orson-welles-on-citizen-kane/| url-status=live}}</ref></blockquote>

Welles called Toland "the greatest gift any director—young or old—could ever, ever have. And he never tried to impress on us that he was performing miracles. He just went ahead and performed them. I was calling on him to do things only a beginner could be ignorant enough to think anybody could ever do, and there he was, ''doing'' them." When asked why he and Toland used depth of focus, Welles explained: "Well, in life you see everything in focus at the same time, so why not in the movies?"<ref name="Welles TIOW" />{{Rp|60}}

It was the first film scored by [[Bernard Herrmann]], who had worked with Welles in radio. Hermann recalled: "two full weeks were spent in the dubbing room, and music under our supervision was often re-recorded six or seven times before the proper dynamic level was achieved. The result is an exact projection of the original musical ideas in the score. Technically, no composer could ask for more."<ref name=Herrmann>{{cite news| title=Score For a Film| last=Herrmann| first=Bernard| author-link=Bernard Herrmann| date=May 25, 1941| work=[[The New York Times]]| url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1941/05/25/85499646.html?pageNumber=179}}</ref> Filming ''Citizen Kane'' took ten weeks.<ref name="autogenerated2001" />

Hearst's newspapers barred all reference to ''Citizen Kane'' and exerted enormous pressure on the Hollywood film community to force RKO to shelve the film.<ref name="Carringer 1985" />{{Rp|111}} RKO chief [[George J. Schaefer]] received a cash offer from [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer|MGM]]'s [[Louis B. Mayer]] and other major studio executives if he would destroy the negative and existing prints of the film.<ref name="Carringer 1985" />{{Rp|112}}
[[File:Canada-Lee-Native-Son-1941.jpg|thumb|upright=.8|[[Canada Lee]] as Bigger Thomas in ''[[Native Son (play)|Native Son]]'' (1941), co-produced and directed by Welles]]
While waiting for ''Citizen Kane'' to be released, Welles produced and directed the original Broadway production of ''[[Native Son (play)|Native Son]]'', a drama written by [[Paul Green (playwright)|Paul Green]] and [[Richard Wright (author)|Richard Wright]] based on Wright's  [[Native Son|novel]]. Starring [[Canada Lee]], the show ran March 24 – June 28, 1941, at the [[St. James Theatre]]. The Mercury Production was the last time Welles and Houseman worked together.<ref name="Bret Wood" />{{Rp|12}}

Although ''Citizen Kane'' was given a limited release, it received overwhelming critical praise. It was voted the best picture of 1941 by the [[National Board of Review]] and [[New York Film Critics Circle]]. The film garnered nine Academy Award nominations but won only [[Academy Award for Best Writing (Original Screenplay)|Best Original Screenplay]], shared by Mankiewicz and Welles.<ref>{{cite web| title=The 14th Academy Awards| work=[[The Academy Awards]]| date=October 3, 2014| url=https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1942| access-date=January 3, 2025| archive-date=October 11, 2014| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141011022900/https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1942| url-status=live}}</ref> ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' reported that block voting by extras deprived ''Citizen Kane'' of Oscars for Best Picture and Best Actor (Welles), and similar prejudices were likely to have been responsible for the film receiving no technical awards.<ref name="Carringer 1985" />{{Rp|117}} [[Bosley Crowther]] wrote that Welles "has made a picture of tremendous and overpowering scope, not in physical extent so much as in its rapid and graphic rotation of thoughts. Mr. Welles has put upon the screen a motion picture that really moves."<ref>{{cite news| title=Orson Welles's Controversial 'Citizen Kane' Proves a Sensational Film at Palace| last=Crowther| first=Bosley| author-link=Bosley Crowther| date=May 21, 1941| work=[[The New York Times]]| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1941/05/02/archives/orson-welless-controversial-citizen-kane-proves-a-sensational-film.html}}</ref> [[Cecelia Ager]], in ''[[PM Magazine]]'', wrote: "Before ''Citizen Kane'', it's as if the motion picture were a slumbering monster, a mighty force stupidly sleeping, lying there...awaiting a fierce young man to come kick it to life, to rouse it, shake it, awaken it to its potentialities ... Seeing it, it's as if you never really saw a movie before."<ref name=Kael/>

The delay in the film's release and uneven distribution contributed to mediocre results at the box office. After it ran its course theatrically, ''Citizen Kane'' was retired to the vault in 1942. In France, however, its reputation grew after it was seen there for the first time in 1946.<ref name="Carringer 1985" />{{Rp|117–118}} In the US, it began to be re-evaluated after it appeared on television in 1956. That year it was re-released theatrically,<ref name="Carringer 1985" />{{Rp|119}} and film critic [[Andrew Sarris]] described it as "the great American film" and "the work that influenced the cinema more profoundly than any American film since ''[[The Birth of a Nation]]''."<ref name="Sarris">{{cite news |last=Sarris |first=Andrew |author-link=Andrew Sarris |title=Citizen Kane: The American Baroque |publisher=[[Film Culture]], number 9 |year=1956 }}</ref> ''Citizen Kane'' [[Legacy of Citizen Kane|is now widely hailed]] as one of the greatest films ever made.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bfi.org.uk/news/50-greatest-films-all-time |title=The 50 Greatest Films of All Time |publisher=[[British Film Institute]] |date=September 2012 |access-date=February 11, 2016 |archive-date=March 1, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170301135739/http://www.bfi.org.uk/news/50-greatest-films-all-time |url-status=dead }}</ref> From 1962 to 2012, it topped the decennial ''[[Sight and Sound]]'' poll of the Greatest Films of All Time.<ref>{{cite news| author=[[David Thomson (film critic)|David Thomson]]| title=Is Citizen Kane still the greatest film of all time?| work=[[Sight and Sound]]| date=May 10, 2012| url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/features/greatest-films-all-time/what-makes-citizen-kane-great| archive-date=April 25, 2024| access-date=April 25, 2024| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240425191133/https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/features/greatest-films-all-time/what-makes-citizen-kane-great| url-status=live}}</ref>

=== ''The Magnificent Ambersons'' ===
{{Main|The Magnificent Ambersons (film)}}
[[File:Welles-Magnificent-Ambersons-Pub-A16.jpg|thumb|left|upright=.8|Welles at work on ''[[The Magnificent Ambersons (film)|The Magnificent Ambersons]]'' (1942)]]
"The fate of ''[[The Magnificent Ambersons (film)|The Magnificent Ambersons]]'' is one of film history's great tragedies," wrote film historian Robert L. Carringer.<ref name="Carringer Ambersons">{{cite book |last=Carringer |first=Robert L. |date=1993 |title=The Magnificent Ambersons: A Reconstruction |location=Berkeley and Los Angeles |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=0-520-07857-8}}</ref>{{Rp|1}} It was Welles's second film for RKO, adapted by Welles from [[Booth Tarkington]]'s [[Pulitzer Prize]]-winning [[The Magnificent Ambersons|1918 novel]] about the declining fortunes of a wealthy Midwestern family and the [[Effects of the automobile on societies|social changes brought by the automobile age]]. Toland was unavailable, so [[Stanley Cortez]] was named cinematographer. The meticulous Cortez worked slowly and the film lagged behind schedule and over budget. In contract renegotiations with RKO over a film he was obliged to direct, Welles had conceded final cut.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://collider.com/orson-welles-the-magnificent-ambersons/|title=Orson Welles Running into Trouble on Citizen Kane Follow-Up, The Magnificent Ambersons |date=March 31, 2015|newspaper=Collider|access-date=January 31, 2017|archive-date=January 9, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200109103952/https://collider.com/orson-welles-the-magnificent-ambersons/|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:The-Magnificent-Ambersons-6.jpg|thumb|Promotional photograph of Joseph Cotten and Agnes Moorehead in the excised concluding scene of ''The Magnificent Ambersons'']]
''The Magnificent Ambersons'' was in production October 28, 1941, to January 22, 1942,<ref name="AFI Ambersons">{{cite web |url=https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/27328 |title=The Magnificent Ambersons |website=[[AFI Catalog of Feature Films]] |publisher=[[American Film Institute]] |access-date=April 25, 2024 |archive-date=April 15, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240415162118/https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/MovieDetails/27328 |url-status=live }}</ref> with a cast including Cotten, Collins, Moorehead, [[Dolores Costello]], [[Anne Baxter]] and [[Tim Holt]].<ref name="AFI Ambersons"/> RKO chief George Schaefer understood that presenting a downbeat period film without marquee stars was a risk, but he was reassured by a special screening of the film-in-progress Welles arranged for him on November 28. Schaefer was an expert in film distribution and attended to the marketing strategy.<ref name="Carringer Ambersons"/>{{Rp|1}}

Required to start filming the "Carnaval" segment of ''[[It's All True (film)|It's All True]]'' in early February 1942, Welles rushed to edit ''The Magnificent Ambersons'' and finish his acting scenes in ''Journey into Fear''. He ended his lucrative [[The Orson Welles Show (radio series)|CBS radio show]]<ref name="Wilson">Wilson, Richard, "It's Not ''Quite'' All True". ''[[Sight & Sound]]'', Volume 39 Number 4, Autumn 1970.</ref>{{Rp|189}} February 2, flew to Washington, D.C., for a briefing, and then lashed together a rough cut of ''Ambersons'' in Miami with editor [[Robert Wise]].<ref name="Welles TIOW"/>{{Rp|369–370}}

A finished 131-minute version, edited per Welles's detailed instructions, was previewed March 17, 1942, in Pomona. Schaefer was present, and was rattled by the audience response: 75 percent of the preview cards were negative. The film was received more favorably by a preview audience in the more upscale Pasadena on March 19, with only 25 percent of the preview cards negative. But the experience led Schaefer to authorize the studio to make whatever changes necessary to make ''The Magnificent Ambersons'' a commercial success.<ref name="Carringer Ambersons"/>{{Rp|1–2}}

Wise, whom Welles had left in charge of postproduction, removed nearly 50 minutes of footage from Welles's cut, and several scenes — including the ending — were rewritten and reshot. [[List of films cut over the director's opposition|Over Welles's opposition]], ''The Magnificent Ambersons'' was cut to 88 minutes.<ref name="Carringer Ambersons"/>{{Rp|2}}<ref name="AFI Ambersons"/> Like the film, [[Bernard Herrmann]]'s score was heavily edited by RKO. When more than half the score was removed and replaced by music by [[Roy Webb]], Herrmann bitterly severed his ties with the film and promised legal action if he was not removed from the credits.<ref>Husted, Christopher, liner notes for ''The Magnificent Ambersons: Original 1942 Motion Picture Score'', Preamble (PRCD 1783), Fifth Continent Music Corp. 1990</ref>

Even in its released form, ''The Magnificent Ambersons'' is considered one of the best films of all time.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://time.com/collection/100-best-movies/6295231/the-magnificent-ambersons-1942/ |title=The 100 Best Movies of the Past 10 Decades: The Magnificent Ambersons |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=July 26, 2023 |access-date=April 29, 2024 |archive-date=April 29, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240429062756/https://time.com/collection/100-best-movies/6295231/the-magnificent-ambersons-1942/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The film was nominated for four [[15th Academy Awards|Academy Awards]], including [[Academy Award for Best Picture|Best Picture]], and added to the [[National Film Registry]] in 1991.

=== ''Journey into Fear'' ===
{{Main|Journey into Fear (1943 film)}}
At RKO's request, Welles worked on an adaptation of [[Eric Ambler]]'s spy thriller ''[[Journey into Fear (1943 film)|Journey into Fear]]'', co-written with Cotten. In addition to acting in it, Welles was the producer. Direction was credited to [[Norman Foster (director)|Norman Foster]]. Welles later said they were in such a rush that the director of each scene was determined by whoever was closest to the camera.<ref name="Welles TIOW" />{{Rp|165}} ''Journey into Fear'' was in production January 6 – March 12, 1942.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=27290 |title=Journey into Fear |publisher=The American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures |access-date=August 23, 2014 |archive-date=November 2, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141102172421/http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=27290 |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== War work ===
==== Goodwill ambassador ====
[[File:Welles-Reisman-Rio-1942-C.jpg|thumb|upright|Welles, accompanied by RKO vice-president Phil Reisman, arrives in [[Rio de Janeiro]] as a goodwill ambassador to Latin America (February 1942)]]
In late November 1941, Welles was appointed as a [[Goodwill Ambassador|goodwill ambassador]] to Latin America by [[Nelson Rockefeller]], [[Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs|U.S. Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs]] and a principal stockholder in RKO Radio Pictures.<ref name="Benamou">Benamou, Catherine L., ''It's All True: Orson Welles's Pan-American Odyssey''. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2007 {{ISBN|978-0-520-24247-0}}</ref>{{Rp|244}} The mission of the OCIAA was [[cultural diplomacy]], promoting [[Pan-Americanism|hemispheric solidarity]] and countering the growing [[Latin America during World War II#Axis activity|influence of the Axis powers in Latin America]].<ref name="Benamou" />{{Rp|10–11}} [[John Hay Whitney]], head of the agency's Motion Picture Division, was asked by the Brazilian government to produce a documentary of the annual [[Rio Carnival]] taking place in early February 1942.<ref name="Benamou" />{{Rp|40–41}} In a telegram on December 20, 1941, Whitney wrote Welles, "Personally believe you would make great contribution to hemisphere solidarity with this project."<ref name="McBride" />{{Rp|65}}

The OCIAA sponsored cultural tours to Latin America and appointed goodwill ambassadors including [[George Balanchine]] and the [[American Ballet]], [[Bing Crosby]], [[Aaron Copland]], [[Walt Disney]], [[John Ford]] and [[Rita Hayworth]]. Welles was briefed in Washington, D.C., immediately before departure for Brazil, and film scholar Catherine L. Benamou, finds it likely he was among the goodwill ambassadors asked to gather intelligence for the U.S. government. She concludes that Welles's acceptance of Whitney's request was "a logical and patently patriotic choice".<ref name="Benamou" />{{Rp|245–247}}

In addition to working on his ill-fated film ''[[It's All True (film)|It's All True]]'', Welles was responsible for radio programs, lectures, interviews and informal talks as part of his OCIAA-sponsored cultural mission, which was regarded as a success.<ref name="Wilson"/>{{Rp|192}} He spoke on topics ranging from Shakespeare to visual art at gatherings of Brazil's elite, and his intercontinental radio broadcasts in April 1942 were particularly intended to tell U.S. audiences that [[Getúlio Vargas|President Vargas]] was a partner with the Allies. Welles's ambassadorial mission was extended to permit his travel to Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru and Uruguay.<ref name="Benamou" />{{Rp|247–249, 328}} Welles worked for more than 6 months with no compensation.<ref name="Benamou" />{{Rp|41, 328}}<ref name="Wilson" />{{Rp|189}}

Welles's own expectations for the film were modest. "''It's All True'' was not going to make any cinematic history, nor was it intended to," he later said. "It was intended to be a perfectly honorable execution of my job as a goodwill ambassador, bringing entertainment to the Northern Hemisphere that showed them something about the Southern one."<ref name="Leaming" />{{Rp|253}}

==== ''It's All True'' ====
{{Main|It's All True (film)}}
[[File:Welles It's All True.jpg|thumb|Welles on location in [[Fortaleza]], Brazil, while filming the "Jangadeiros" section of the unfinished film ''[[It's All True (film)|It's All True]]'']]
[[File:It's-All-True-Crew-1942.jpg|thumb|Some of Welles's ''It's All True'' film crew at the top of [[Sugarloaf Mountain]], Rio de Janeiro, in early 1942]]
In July 1941, Welles conceived ''[[It's All True (film)|It's All True]]'' as an [[Anthology|omnibus]] film mixing documentary and [[docufiction]]<ref name="Leaming" />{{Rp|221}}<ref name="Benamou" />{{Rp|27}} in a project that emphasized the [[dignity of labor]] and celebrated the cultural and ethnic diversity of North America. It was to have been his third film for RKO, following ''[[Citizen Kane]]'' (1941) and ''[[The Magnificent Ambersons (film)|The Magnificent Ambersons]]'' (1942).<ref name="South American Cinema">Benamou, Catherine, "It's All True". Barnard, Tim, and Peter Rist (eds.), ''South American Cinema: A Critical Filmography, 1915–1994''. New York: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1996; Austin: [[University of Texas Press]], 1998 {{ISBN|978-0-292-70871-6}}</ref>{{Rp|109}} [[Duke Ellington]] was put under contract to score a segment with the working title, "The Story of Jazz", drawn from [[Louis Armstrong]]'s 1936 autobiography, ''Swing That Music''.<ref name="Teachout Duke">[[Terry Teachout|Teachout, Terry]], ''Duke: A Life of Duke Ellington''. New York: [[Penguin Group|Gotham Books]], 2013 {{ISBN|978-1-59240-749-1}}</ref>{{Rp|232–233}} Armstrong was cast to play himself in the dramatization of the history of jazz performance, from its roots to its place in American culture.<ref name="South American Cinema" />{{Rp|109}} "The Story of Jazz" was to go into production in December 1941.<ref name="Benamou" />{{Rp|119–120}}

Mercury Productions purchased the stories for other segments—"My Friend Bonito" and "The Captain's Chair"—from documentary filmmaker [[Robert J. Flaherty]].<ref name="Benamou" />{{Rp|33, 326}} Adapted by [[Norman Foster (director)|Norman Foster]] and [[John Fante]], "My Friend Bonito" was the only segment of the original ''It's All True'' to go into production.<ref name="South American Cinema" />{{Rp|109|date=April 2014}} Filming took place in Mexico September–December 1941, with Norman Foster directing under Welles's supervision.<ref name="Benamou" />{{Rp|311}}

In December 1941, the [[Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs]] asked Welles to make a film in Brazil that would showcase the  [[Brazilian Carnival|Carnaval]] in Rio.<ref name="McBride" />{{Rp|65}} With filming of "My Friend Bonito" about two-thirds complete, Welles decided he could shift the geography of ''It's All True'' and incorporate Flaherty's story into an omnibus film about Latin America—supporting the [[Franklin D. Roosevelt|Roosevelt]] administration's [[Good Neighbor policy]], which Welles advocated.<ref name="Benamou" />{{Rp|41, 246}} In this revised concept, "The Story of Jazz" was replaced by the story of [[samba]], a musical form with a comparable history and one that came to fascinate Welles. He decided to do a ripped-from-the-headlines episode about the epic voyage of four poor Brazilian fishermen, the [[Jangada|jangadeiros]], who had become national heroes. Welles later said this was the most valuable story.<ref name="Welles TIOW" />{{Rp|158–159}}<ref name="Bret Wood" />{{Rp|15}}

Required to film the Carnaval in Rio in early February 1942, Welles rushed to edit ''The Magnificent Ambersons'' and finish his acting scenes in ''Journey into Fear''. He ended his lucrative [[The Orson Welles Show (radio series)|CBS radio show]]<ref name="Wilson" />{{Rp|189}} February 2, flew to Washington, D.C., for a briefing, and then lashed together a rough cut of ''Ambersons'' in Miami with editor [[Robert Wise]].<ref name="Welles TIOW" />{{Rp|369–370}} Welles recorded the film's narration the night before he left for South America: "I went to the projection room at about four in the morning, did the whole thing, and then got on the plane and off to Rio—and the end of civilization as we know it."<ref name="Welles TIOW" />{{Rp|115}}

Welles left for Brazil on February 4 and began filming in Rio on February 8, 1942.<ref name="Welles TIOW" />{{Rp|369–370}} It did not seem that Welles's other film projects would be disrupted, but as film historian Catherine L. Benamou wrote, "the ambassadorial appointment would be the first in a series of turning points leading—in 'zigs' and 'zags,' rather than in a straight line—to Welles's loss of complete directorial control over ''The Magnificent Ambersons'' and ''It's All True'', the cancellation of his contract at RKO Radio Studio, the expulsion of his company Mercury Productions from the RKO lot, and the total suspension of ''It's All True''."<ref name="Benamou" />{{Rp|46}}

In 1942 RKO Pictures underwent changes under new management. [[Nelson Rockefeller]], the primary backer of the Brazil project, left its board, and Welles's principal sponsor at RKO, studio president George Schaefer, resigned. RKO took control of ''Ambersons'' and edited it into what RKO considered a commercial format. Welles's attempts to protect his version failed.<ref name="AFI Ambersons" /><ref>Barnett, Vincent L. "Cutting Koerners: Floyd Odlum, the Atlas Corporation and the Dismissal of Orson Welles from RKO". ''Film History: An International Journal'', Volume 22, Number 2, 2010, pp. 182–198.</ref> In South America, Welles requested resources to finish ''It's All True''. Given a limited amount of black-and-white film stock and a silent camera, he was able to finish shooting the episode about the [[Jangada|jangadeiros]], but RKO refused to support further production.

"So I was fired from RKO," Welles recalled. "And they made a great publicity point of the fact that I had gone to South America without a script and thrown all this money away. I never recovered from that attack."<ref name="Estrin">Estrin, Mark W., and Orson Welles. ''Orson Welles: Interviews''. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2002. {{ISBN|1-57806-209-8}}</ref>{{Rp|188}} Later in 1942, when RKO Pictures began promoting its new corporate motto, "Showmanship In Place of Genius: A New Deal at RKO",<ref>{{cite news |last=Brady |first=Thomas F. |date=November 15, 1942 |title=Off the Hollywood Wire; Orson Welles Attempts to Appease His RKO Bosses |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1942/11/15/archives/off-the-hollywood-wire-orson-welles-attempts-to-appease-his-rko.html |work=The New York Times  |access-date=May 7, 2024 }}</ref> Welles understood it as a reference to him.<ref name="Estrin" />{{Rp|188}}

==== Radio (1942–1943) ====
[[File:Welles-Sandburg-1942.jpg|thumb|Welles performs a card trick for [[Carl Sandburg]] before the War Bond drive broadcast ''I Pledge America'' (August 1942).]]

Welles returned to the US on August 22, 1942, after more than six months in South America.<ref name="Welles TIOW" />{{Rp|372}} A week after his return<ref>''[[Detroit Free Press]]'', August 29, 1942</ref><ref>Norris, Chan, "Orson Welles on Latin America". ''[[PM (newspaper)|PM]]'', September 13, 1942, pp. 16–17.</ref> he produced and emceed the first two hours of a seven-hour coast-to-coast [[Series E bond|War Bond]] drive broadcast titled ''I Pledge America''. Airing August 29, 1942, on the [[Blue Network]], the program was presented in cooperation with the [[United States Department of the Treasury]], [[Western Union]] and the [[American Women's Voluntary Services]]. Featuring 21 dance bands and a score of stage and screen and radio stars, the broadcast raised more than $10&nbsp;million—more than $146&nbsp;million today<ref>{{cite web |url=http://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl?cost1=10%2C000%2C000.00&year1=1942&year2=2014 |title=Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI Inflation Calculator |publisher=[[United States Department of Labor]] |access-date=August 24, 2014 |archive-date=August 26, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140826120657/http://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl?cost1=10%2C000%2C000.00&year1=1942&year2=2014 |url-status=live }}</ref>—for the war effort.<ref>"Bond Show Nets 10-Million Order". ''Detroit Free Press'' ([[Associated Press]]), August 31, 1942</ref><ref>''[[Des Moines Tribune]]'', August 29, 1942</ref><ref>''[[The Washington Post]]'', August 29, 1942</ref><ref>"7 Hour Radio Show to Push War Bonds". ''[[The New York Times]]'', August 29, 1942</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CgwEAAAAMBAJ&q=William+Bacher+War+Bonds&pg=PT5 |title=100 Million in Bonds Already Sold by Radio for Gov't; Blue Net Alone Sold 16 Million |magazine=Billboard|date=September 12, 1942 }}</ref><ref>"More on War Bond Selling". ''Broadcasting'', August 31, 1942, p. 50.</ref>

On October 12, 1942, ''[[Cavalcade of America]]'' presented Welles's radio play, ''Admiral of the Ocean Sea'', an entertaining and factual look at the legend of [[Christopher Columbus]]. "It belongs to a period when hemispheric unity was a crucial matter and many programs were being devoted to the common heritage of the Americas," wrote broadcasting historian [[Erik Barnouw]]. "Many such programs were being translated into Spanish and Portuguese and broadcast to Latin America, to counteract many years of successful Axis propaganda to that area. The Axis, trying to stir Latin America against Anglo-America, had constantly emphasized the differences between the two. It became the job of American radio to emphasize their common experience and essential unity."<ref name="Barnouw">[[Erik Barnouw|Barnouw, Erik]] (ed.), ''Radio Drama in Action: 25 Plays of a Changing World''. New York: [[Farrar & Rinehart]], 1945. Written by Orson Welles in collaboration with Robert Meltzer and [[Norris Houghton]], the radio play ''Columbus Day'' appears on pp. 4–13.</ref>{{Rp|3}}

''Admiral of the Ocean Sea'', also known as ''Columbus Day'', begins with the words, "Hello Americans"—the title Welles would choose for his own series five weeks later.<ref name="Welles TIOW" />{{Rp|373}}
[[File:Ceiling-Unlimited-1942.jpg|thumb|upright=.8|Welles and Col. Arthur I. Ennis, head of the public relations branch of the [[United States Army Air Forces|Army Air Forces]], discuss plans for the [[CBS Radio]] series ''[[Ceiling Unlimited]]'' (October 1942).]]

''[[Hello Americans]]'', a CBS Radio series broadcast November 15, 1942 – January 31, 1943, was produced, directed and hosted by Welles under the auspices of the Office of the Coordinator for Inter-American Affairs. The 30-minute weekly program promoted inter-American understanding and friendship, drawing upon the research amassed for the ill-fated film, ''It's All True''.<ref>Hickerson, Jay, ''The Ultimate History of Network Radio Programming and Guide to All Circulating Shows''. Hamden, Connecticut, second edition December 1992, p. 303.</ref> The series was produced concurrently with Welles's other CBS series, ''[[Ceiling Unlimited]]'' (November 9, 1942 – February 1, 1943), sponsored by the [[Lockheed Corporation|Lockheed]]-[[Vega Aircraft Corporation|Vega]] Corporation. The program was conceived to glorify the aviation industry and dramatize its role in World War II. Welles's shows were regarded as significant contributions to the war effort.<ref name="Museum of Broadcasting" />{{Rp|64}}
Throughout the war Welles worked on patriotic radio programs including ''[[Command Performance (radio series)|Command Performance]]'', ''G.I. Journal'', ''[[Mail Call (radio program)|Mail Call]]'', ''Nazi Eyes on Canada'', ''Stage Door Canteen'' and ''Treasury Star Parade''.

==== ''The Mercury Wonder Show'' ====
{{Main|The Mercury Wonder Show}}

[[File:Mercury-Wonder-Show-Welles.jpg|thumb|left|upright=.8|"Hello, suckers!" Orson the Magnificent welcomes the audience to ''[[The Mercury Wonder Show]]'' (August 1943).]]
In early 1943, the two concurrent radio series (''[[Ceiling Unlimited]]'', ''[[Hello Americans]]'') that Welles created for [[CBS Radio|CBS]] to support the war effort had ended. Filming had wrapped on the 1943 [[Jane Eyre (1943 film)|film adaptation]] of ''[[Jane Eyre]]'', for which he received $100,000; that fee, in addition to the income from his guest-star roles in radio, made it possible for Welles to fulfill a lifelong dream. He approached the War Assistance League of Southern California and proposed a show that evolved into a big-top spectacle, part [[circus]] and part [[magic (illusion)|magic show]]. He offered his services as magician and director,<ref name="Magic">Charvet, David, "Orson Welles and The Mercury Wonder Show". ''[[Magic (American magazine)|Magic, An Independent Magazine for Magicians]]'', Volume 2 Number 12, August 1993</ref>{{Rp|40}} and invested $40,000 in an extravaganza he co-produced with his friend Cotten: ''[[The Mercury Wonder Show|The Mercury Wonder Show for Service Men]]''. Members of the armed forces were admitted free of charge, while the public had to pay.<ref name="Genii" />{{Rp|26}} The show entertained 1,000 service members each night, and proceeds went to the War Assistance League, a charity for military service personnel.<ref name="Billboard" />
[[File:Welles-Draft-1943.jpg|thumb|upright=.8|Welles leaves his Army physical after being judged unfit for military service (May 6, 1943).]]
The development of the show coincided with the resolution of Welles's oft-changing [[Selective Service System|draft status]] in May 1943, when he was finally declared 4-F—unfit for military service—for medical reasons. "I felt guilty about the war," Welles told biographer [[Barbara Leaming]]. "I was guilt-ridden about my civilian status."<ref name="Leaming Hayworth">Leaming, Barbara, ''If This Was Happiness: A Biography of Rita Hayworth''. New York: Viking, 1989 {{ISBN|0-670-81978-6}}</ref>{{Rp|86}} He had been publicly hounded about his patriotism since ''Citizen Kane'', when the Hearst press began persistent inquiries about why Welles had not been drafted.<ref name="McBride" />{{Rp|66–67}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://framework.latimes.com/2011/09/28/orson-welles-rejected-by-army/ |title=Orson Welles Rejected by Army (May 6, 1943) |publisher=[[Los Angeles Times]], September 28, 2011 |access-date=August 24, 2014 |date=September 28, 2011 |archive-date=July 14, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714170629/http://framework.latimes.com/2011/09/28/orson-welles-rejected-by-army/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wellesnet.com/?p=6392 |title=70 years ago: Orson Welles's patriotism, military service made headlines |publisher=Wellesnet, May 3, 2013 |access-date=August 24, 2014 |date=May 3, 2013 |archive-date=December 5, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201205164505/https://www.wellesnet.com/70-years-ago-orson-welles%e2%80%99-patriotism-military-service-made-headlines/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
[[File:Welles-Hayworth-Cotten-1943.jpg|thumb|upright=.8|[[Rita Hayworth]] took a lunch-hour break from the set of ''[[Cover Girl (film)|Cover Girl]]'' to marry Welles, with best man Cotten (September 7, 1943).<ref name="Leaming Hayworth"/>{{Rp|91}}]]
''The Mercury Wonder Show'' ran August 3 – September 9, 1943, in an 80-by-120-foot tent<ref name="Billboard">{{cite magazine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lgwEAAAAMBAJ&q=Mercury+Wonder+Show+tent&pg=PT3 |title=Welles Dishes Magic, Sawdust at Mercury Bow |last=Abbott|first= Sam|magazine= [[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|date=August 14, 1943 }}</ref> located at 900 [[Cahuenga Boulevard]], in the heart of Hollywood.<ref name="Welles TIOW" />{{Rp|377}}<ref name="Genii">{{cite magazine|last=Wheldon|first= Wynn Pierce|title=Orson Welles the Magician|magazine=[[Genii (magazine)|Genii, The Conjurors' Magazine]]|volume= 63|number=2|date=February 15, 2000}}</ref>{{Rp|26}} At intermission on September 7, 1943, [[KMPC#KMPC-710|KMPC]] radio interviewed audience and cast members of ''The Mercury Wonder Show''—including Welles and [[Rita Hayworth]], who were married earlier that day. Welles remarked that ''The Mercury Wonder Show'' had been performed for 48,000 members of the armed forces.<ref name="Welles TIOW" />{{Rp|378}}<ref name="Bret Wood" />{{Rp|129}}

==== Radio (1944–45) ====
The idea of doing a radio variety show occurred to Welles after his success as substitute host of consecutive episodes (March 14 – April 4, 1943) of ''[[The Jack Benny Program]]'', radio's most popular show, when [[Jack Benny|Benny]] contracted pneumonia on a performance tour of military bases.<ref name="Brady" />{{Rp|368|date=May 2014}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://radiogoldindex.com/cgi-local/p2.cgi?ProgramName=The%20Jack%20Benny%20Program%20For%20Grape-Nuts%20and%20Grape-Nuts%20Flakes |title=The Jack Benny Program for Grape-Nuts and Grape-Nuts Flakes |publisher=RadioGOLDINdex |access-date=August 24, 2014 |archive-date=October 25, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141025194304/http://radiogoldindex.com/cgi-local/p2.cgi?ProgramName=The%20Jack%20Benny%20Program%20For%20Grape-Nuts%20and%20Grape-Nuts%20Flakes |url-status=live }}</ref> A half-hour variety show broadcast January 26 – July 19, 1944, on the Columbia Pacific Network, ''[[The Orson Welles Almanac]]'' presented sketch comedy, magic, mindreading, music and readings from classic works. Many of the shows originated on U.S. military camps, where Welles and his repertory company and guests entertained the troops with a reduced version of ''The Mercury Wonder Show''.<ref name="Museum of Broadcasting" />{{Rp|64}}<ref name="Almanac Part 1">{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/1944OrsonWellesRadioAlmanacpart1 |title=Orson Welles Almanac – Part 1 |publisher=[[Internet Archive]] |access-date=August 24, 2014}}</ref><ref name="Almanac Part 2">{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/1944OrsonWellesRadioAlmanacpart2 |title=Orson Welles Almanac – Part 2 |publisher=Internet Archive |access-date=August 24, 2014}}</ref> The performances of the [[The Orson Welles Almanac#All Star Jazz Group|all-star jazz group]] Welles brought together for the show were so popular that the band became a regular feature and was an important force in reviving interest in [[Dixieland|traditional New Orleans jazz]].<ref name="Bigard">[[Barney Bigard|Bigard, Barney]], and Martyn, Barry (ed.), ''With Louis and the Duke: The Autobiography of a Jazz Clarinetist''. New York: [[Oxford University Press]], 1986. {{ISBN|0-19-520637-1}}</ref>{{Rp|85}}

Welles was placed on the U.S. Treasury payroll on May 15, 1944, as an expert consultant for the duration of the war, with a retainer of $1 a year.<ref name="Oakland Trib">{{cite news |agency=Associated Press |date=May 17, 1944 |title=Orson Welles in War Loan Drive |newspaper=Oakland Tribune}}</ref> On the recommendation of President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]], Secretary of the Treasury [[Henry Morgenthau Jr.|Henry Morgenthau]] asked Welles to lead the Fifth War Loan Drive, which opened June 12 with a radio show on all four networks, broadcast from Texarkana, Texas. Including a statement by the President,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://docs.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/061244.html |title=Opening Fifth War Loan Drive, June 12, 1944 |publisher=[[Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum]] |access-date=August 24, 2014 |archive-date=December 2, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141202140258/http://docs.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/061244.html |url-status=live }}</ref> the program defined the causes of the war and encouraged Americans to buy $16&nbsp;billion in [[Series E bond|bonds]] to finance the [[Normandy landings]]. Welles produced additional war loan drive broadcasts on June 14 from the [[Hollywood Bowl]], and June 16 from [[Soldier Field]], Chicago.<ref name="Brady" />{{Rp|371–373}} Americans purchased $21&nbsp;billion in War Bonds during the Fifth War Loan Drive, which ended on July 8, 1944.<ref name="Duke">{{cite web |url=http://library.duke.edu/digitalcollections/adaccess/guide/wwii/bonds-loans |title=Brief History of World War Two Advertising Campaigns War Loans and Bonds |publisher=[[Duke University Libraries]] |access-date=August 27, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140911083904/http://library.duke.edu/digitalcollections/adaccess/guide/wwii/bonds-loans/ |archive-date=September 11, 2014 }}</ref>
[[File:Independent-Voters-Committee-of-the-Arts-and-Sciences-for-Roosevelt-poster.jpg|thumb|left|upright=.8|Welles introduced Vice President [[Henry A. Wallace]] at a [[Madison Square Garden (1925)|Madison Square Garden]] rally advocating a fourth term for President Franklin D. Roosevelt (September 21, 1944).<ref name="Welles TIOW" />{{Rp|385}}]]

Welles campaigned ardently for Roosevelt in 1944. A longtime supporter and campaign speaker for FDR, he occasionally sent the president ideas and phrases that were sometimes incorporated into what Welles characterized as "less important speeches".<ref name="Brady" />{{Rp|372, 374}} One of these was the joke in what came to be called the [[Fala speech]], Roosevelt's nationally broadcast September 23 address to the International [[Teamsters]] Union which opened the [[U.S. presidential election, 1944|1944 presidential campaign]].<ref name="Leaming" />{{Rp|292–293}}<ref>{{cite web |title=FDR, Orson Welles, and "the Fala speech" |url=https://prorhetoric.com/fdr-orson-welles-and-the-fala-speech/ |website=Pro Rhetoric |date=September 25, 2020 |access-date=February 22, 2024}}</ref>

Welles campaigned for the Roosevelt–Truman ticket almost full-time in the fall of 1944, traveling to nearly every state<ref name="Brady" />{{Rp|373–374}} to the detriment of his health<ref name="Leaming" />{{Rp|293–294}} and at his own expense.<ref name="Higham" />{{Rp|219}} In addition to his radio addresses he filled in for Roosevelt, opposite Republican presidential nominee [[Thomas E. Dewey]], at ''The New York Herald Tribune Forum'' broadcast October 18 on the Blue Network.<ref name="Welles TIOW" />{{Rp|386}}<ref name="Leaming" />{{Rp|292}} Welles accompanied FDR to his last campaign rally, speaking at an event November 4 at Boston's [[Fenway Park]] before 40,000 people,<ref name="Leaming" />{{Rp|294}}<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/1944/11/05/fenway-park-spectacle-color-leaders-rally-for-fdr/7kMRex8WrLh5pBBcXglf2H/story.html |title=Fenway Park is spectacle of color as leaders rally for FDR |publisher=Ainley, Leslie G., [[Boston Globe]], November 5, 1944 |access-date=September 21, 2014 |archive-date=June 29, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170629161922/http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/1944/11/05/fenway-park-spectacle-color-leaders-rally-for-fdr/7kMRex8WrLh5pBBcXglf2H/story.html |url-status=live }}</ref> and took part in a historic election-eve campaign broadcast November 6 on all four radio networks.<ref name="Welles TIOW" />{{Rp|387}}<ref name="Dunning">[[John Dunning (radio historian)|Dunning, John]], ''On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio''. New York: Oxford University Press, Inc., 1998 {{ISBN|978-0-19-507678-3}} hardcover; revised edition of ''Tune In Yesterday'' (1976)</ref>{{Rp|166–167}}

On November 21, 1944, Welles began his association with ''[[This Is My Best]]'', a CBS radio series he would produce, direct, write and host (March 13 – April 24, 1945).<ref name="Goldin Best">{{cite web |url=http://radiogoldindex.com/cgi-local/p2.cgi?ProgramName=This%20Is%20My%20Best |title=This Is My Best |publisher=RadioGOLDINdex |access-date=September 21, 2014 |archive-date=April 3, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150403213725/http://radiogoldindex.com/cgi-local/p2.cgi?ProgramName=This%20Is%20My%20Best |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="TIMB Internet Archive">{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/ThisIsMyBest |title=This Is My Best |publisher=Internet Archive |access-date=September 21, 2014}}</ref> He wrote a political column called ''Orson Welles' Almanac'' (later titled ''Orson Welles Today'') for ''[[New York Post|The New York Post]]'' January–November 1945, and advocated the continuation of FDR's New Deal policies and international vision, particularly the establishment of the UN and world peace.<ref name="McBride" />{{Rp|84}}

On April 12, 1945, the day Roosevelt died, the Blue-ABC network marshalled its executive staff and national leaders to pay homage to the president. "Among the outstanding programs which attracted wide attention was a special tribute delivered by Orson Welles", reported ''[[Broadcasting & Cable|Broadcasting]]'' magazine.<ref>"Presidential Coverage Wins High Praise". ''[[Broadcasting & Cable|Broadcasting]]'' April 23, 1945, page 68.</ref> Welles spoke at 10:10 p.m Eastern War Time, from Hollywood, and stressed the importance of continuing FDR's work: "He has no need for homage and we who loved him have no time for tears ... Our fighting sons and brothers cannot pause tonight to mark the death of him whose name will be given to the age we live in."<ref>"Radio Handles Tragic News with Dignity". ''Broadcasting'', April 16, 1945, page 18.</ref> Welles presented another special broadcast on the Roosevelt's death the following evening: "We must move on beyond mere death to that free world which was the hope and labor of his life."<ref name="Welles TIOW" />{{Rp|390}}<ref name="Callow Hello" />{{Rp|242}}

He dedicated the April 17 episode of ''[[This Is My Best]]'' to Roosevelt and the future of America on the eve of the [[United Nations Conference on International Organization]].<ref name="Welles TIOW" />{{Rp|390}}<ref name="Goldin Best" /><ref name="TIMB Internet Archive" /> Welles was an advisor and correspondent for the Blue-ABC radio network's coverage of the San Francisco conference that formed the UN, taking place April 24 – June 23, 1945. He presented a half-hour dramatic program written by [[Ben Hecht]] on the opening day of the conference, and on Sunday afternoons (April 29 – June 10) he led a weekly discussion from the [[Bill Graham Civic Auditorium|San Francisco Civic Auditorium]].<ref>"Local Interest Coverage Aim of Independents at Conference". ''[[Broadcasting & Cable|Broadcasting]]'', April 2, 1945, page 20.</ref><ref name="Blue-ABC Ad">Display advertisement, "What America's Youngest News Network Is Doing About the Greatest News Story of Our Time". American Broadcasting Company, Inc., The Blue Network. ''Broadcasting'', April 30, 1945, pp. 22–23</ref>

=== ''The Stranger'' ===

{{Main|The Stranger (1946 film)}}
[[File:Orson-Welles-1945.jpg|thumb|upright=.8|Director and star Orson Welles at work on ''[[The Stranger (1946 film)|The Stranger]]'' (October 1945)]]

In the fall of 1945 Welles began work on ''[[The Stranger (1946 film)|The Stranger]]'' (1946), a [[film noir]] drama about a war crimes investigator who tracks a high-ranking Nazi fugitive to an idyllic [[New England]] town. [[Edward G. Robinson]], [[Loretta Young]] and Welles star.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=24989 |title=The Stranger |website=[[AFI Catalog of Feature Films]] |publisher=[[American Film Institute]] |access-date=May 10, 2015 |archive-date=April 2, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402105022/http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=24989 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Producer [[Sam Spiegel]] initially planned to hire director [[John Huston]], who had rewritten the screenplay by [[Anthony Veiller]]. When Huston entered the military, Welles was given the chance to direct and prove himself able to make a film on schedule and under budget<ref name="Bret Wood" />{{Rp|19}}—something he was so eager to do that he accepted a disadvantageous contract. One of its concessions was that he would defer to the studio in any creative dispute.<ref name="Brady" />{{Rp|379}}<ref name="Leaming" />{{Rp|309–310}}

''The Stranger'' was Welles's first job as a film director in four years.<ref name="Welles TIOW" />{{Rp|391}} He was told that if the film was successful he could sign a four-picture deal with International Pictures, making films of his own choosing.<ref name="Brady" />{{Rp|379}} Welles was given some creative control,<ref name="Bret Wood" />{{Rp|19}} and endeavored to personalize the film and develop a nightmarish tone.<ref name="Bret Wood Commentary">{{cite AV media |last=Wood |first=Bret |year=2013 |title=''Audio commentary'', The Stranger |type=[[Blu-ray Disc]] |location=New York |publisher=[[Kino International (company)|Kino Classics]] |oclc=862466296 }}</ref>{{Rp|2:30}} He worked on the general rewrite of the script and wrote scenes at the beginning of the picture shot, but cut by producers.<ref name="Welles TIOW" />{{Rp|186}} He filmed in long takes that largely thwarted the control given to editor Ernest J. Nims under the terms of the contract.<ref name="Bret Wood Commentary" />{{Rp|15:45}}

''The Stranger'' was the first commercial film to use documentary footage from the concentration camps.<ref name="Welles TIOW" />{{Rp|189}}<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Wilson |editor1-first=Kristi M. |editor2-last=Crowder-Taraborrelli |editor2-first=Tomás F. |title=Film and Genocide |date=January 4, 2012 |location=Madison, Wisconsin |publisher=The University of Wisconsin Press |page=11 |isbn=978-0-299-28564-7 }}</ref> Welles had seen the footage in early May 1945<ref name="Bret Wood Commentary" />{{Rp|102:03}} in San Francisco,<ref name="Barker">{{cite book |last=Barker |first=Jennifer L. |year=2012 |chapter=Documenting the Holocaust in Orson Welles's ''The Stranger'' |editor1-last=Wilson |editor1-first=Kristi M. |editor2-last=Crowder-Taraborrelli |editor2-first=Tomás F. |title=Film and Genocide |location=Madison, Wisconsin |publisher=The University of Wisconsin Press |pages=55–58 |isbn=978-0-299-28564-7 }}</ref>{{Rp|56}} as a correspondent and discussion moderator at the UN Conference on International Organization.<ref name="Leaming" />{{Rp|304}} He wrote of the Holocaust footage in his syndicated ''New York Post'' column May 7, 1945.<ref name="Barker" />{{Rp|56–57}}

Completed a day ahead of schedule and under budget,<ref name="Brady" />{{Rp|379–380}} ''The Stranger'' was the only film made by Welles to have been a ''bona fide'' box office success upon its release. Its cost was $1.03&nbsp;million; 15 months after its release it had grossed $3.2&nbsp;million.<ref name="Rosebud">{{cite book |last=Thomson |first=David |title=Rosebud: The Story of Orson Welles |publisher=Alfred A. Knopf |location=New York |date=1996 |page=268 |isbn=978-0-679-41834-4}}</ref> Within weeks of the completion of the film, International Pictures backed out of its promised four-picture deal with Welles. No reason was given, but the impression was left that ''The Stranger'' would not make money.<ref name="Brady" />{{Rp|381}}

=== ''Around the World'' ===
{{Main|Around the World (musical)}}
In the summer of 1946, Welles moved to New York to direct the Broadway musical ''[[Around the World (musical)|Around the World]]'', a stage adaptation of [[Jules Verne]]'s novel ''[[Around the World in Eighty Days]]'' with a book by Welles and music by [[Cole Porter]]. Producer [[Mike Todd]], who would produce the successful [[Around the World in 80 Days (1956 film)|1956 film adaptation]], pulled out from the lavish and expensive production, leaving Welles to support the finances. When Welles ran out of money he convinced [[Columbia Pictures]] president [[Harry Cohn]] to send enough to continue the show, and in exchange Welles promised to write, produce, direct and star in a film for Cohn for no further fee. The stage show soon failed due to poor box-office, with Welles unable to claim the losses on his taxes.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wellesnet.com/around-the-world-musical-opened-on-broadway-70-years-ago/ |title=Around the World Musical Opened on Broadway 70 years ago |date=May 27, 2016 |website=Wellesnet |access-date=April 8, 2018 |archive-date=October 4, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171004141900/http://www.wellesnet.com/around-the-world-musical-opened-on-broadway-70-years-ago/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Inspired by magician and cinema pioneer [[Georges Méliès]], the show required 55 stagehands and used films to bridge scenes. Welles said it was his favorite of his stage productions. Regarding its extravagance, critic Robert Garland said it had "everything but the kitchen sink." The next night, Welles brought out a kitchen sink.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bogdanovich |first=Peter |title=[[This is Orson Welles]] |publisher=[[Da Capo Press]] |year=1998 |edition=Revised |page=395}}</ref>

=== Radio (1946) ===

In 1946, Welles began two new radio series—''[[The Mercury Summer Theatre of the Air]]'' for CBS, and ''[[Orson Welles Commentaries]]'' for ABC. While ''Mercury Summer Theatre'' featured half-hour adaptations of some classic Mercury radio shows from the 1930s, the first episode was a condensation of his ''Around the World'' stage play, and is the only record of Cole Porter's music for the project. Several original Mercury actors returned for the series, as well as Bernard Herrmann. Welles invested his earnings into his failing stage play. ''Commentaries'' was a political vehicle, continuing the themes from his ''New York Post'' column. Again, Welles lacked a clear focus, until the [[NAACP]] brought to his attention the case of [[Isaac Woodard]]. Welles brought significant attention to Woodard's cause.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.wellesnet.com/orson-welles-sought-justice-for-isaac-woodard-70-years-ago/ |title=Orson Welles Sought Justice for Issaac Woodard 70 years ago |last=Teal |first=Mike |date=July 28, 2016 |newspaper=Wellesnet &#124; Orson Welles Web Resource |access-date=April 8, 2018 |archive-date=April 9, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180409043226/http://www.wellesnet.com/orson-welles-sought-justice-for-isaac-woodard-70-years-ago/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

The last broadcast of ''Orson Welles Commentaries'' on October 6, 1946, marked the end of Welles's own radio shows.<ref name="Welles TIOW" />{{Rp|401}}

=== ''The Lady from Shanghai'' ===
{{Main|The Lady from Shanghai}}

[[File:Welles-Wilson-Hayworth-Lady-from-Shanghai.jpg|thumb|left|upright=.8|Welles, associate producer [[Richard Wilson (director)|Richard Wilson]] and Rita Hayworth confer on the set of ''[[The Lady from Shanghai]]'' (1947)]]

The film that Welles was obliged to make in exchange for [[Harry Cohn]]'s help in financing the stage production ''[[Around the World (musical)|Around the World]]'' was ''[[The Lady from Shanghai]]'', filmed in 1947 for [[Columbia Pictures]]. Welles intended it to be a modest thriller, but the budget skyrocketed after Cohn suggested that Welles's then-estranged wife [[Rita Hayworth]] star.

Cohn disliked Welles's [[rough cut]], particularly the confusing plot and lack of close-ups, and was not in sympathy with Welles's [[Brechtian]] use of irony and [[black comedy]], especially in a farcical courtroom scene. Cohn ordered extensive editing and re-shoots. After heavy editing by the studio, approximately one hour of Welles's first cut was removed, including much of a climactic confrontation scene in an amusement park funhouse. While expressing displeasure at the cuts, Welles was particularly appalled with the score. The film was considered a disaster in America when released, though the closing shootout in a hall of mirrors (the use of mirrors being a recurrent motif of Welles's, starting with ''Kane'') has become a touchstone of [[film noir]]. Not long after release, Welles and Hayworth finalized their divorce.

Although ''The Lady from Shanghai'' was acclaimed in Europe, it was not embraced until decades later in the U.S., where it is now regarded as a classic of film noir.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/the-lady-from-shanghai/Film?oid=2552830|title=The Lady From Shanghai|last=Kehr|first=Dave|website=Chicago Reader|date=November 22, 1985 |access-date=March 16, 2018|archive-date=March 16, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180316151825/https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/the-lady-from-shanghai/Film?oid=2552830|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== ''Macbeth'' ===
{{Main|Macbeth (1948 film)}}
[[File:Orson Welles as Macbeth.jpg|thumb|Welles and [[Jeanette Nolan]] in ''Macbeth'']]
Prior to 1948, Welles convinced [[Republic Pictures]] to let him direct a [[Macbeth (1948 film)|low-budget version]] of ''[[Macbeth]]'', featuring highly stylized sets and costumes, and a cast of actors lip-syncing to a pre-recorded soundtrack, one of many innovative cost-cutting techniques Welles deployed in an attempt to make an epic film from [[B-movie]] resources. The script, adapted by Welles, is a violent reworking of Shakespeare's original, freely cutting and pasting lines into new contexts via a [[collage]] technique and recasting ''Macbeth'' as a clash of pagan and proto-Christian ideologies. Some voodoo trappings of the famous [[Voodoo Macbeth|Welles/Houseman Negro Theatre stage adaptation]] are visible, especially in the film's characterization of the [[Weird Sisters]], who create an effigy of Macbeth as a charm to enchant him. Of all Welles's post-''Kane'' Hollywood productions, ''Macbeth'' is stylistically closest to ''Kane'' in its long takes and deep focus photography.{{Citation needed|date=April 2024}}

Republic initially trumpeted the film as an important work but decided it did not care for the Scottish accents and held up general release for a year after early negative press reaction, including ''[[Life (magazine)|Life]]''{{'}}s comment that Welles's film "doth foully slaughter Shakespeare."<ref>{{cite web|title=Orson Welles doth foully slaughter Shakespeare in a dialect version of his "Tragedy of Macbeth"—or so sayeth Life magazine|url=http://www.wellesnet.com/?p=729|work=Wellesnet|access-date=September 1, 2011|date=June 19, 2009|archive-date=January 7, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120107192608/http://www.wellesnet.com/?p=729|url-status=live}}</ref> Welles left for Europe, while co-producer and lifelong supporter [[Richard Wilson (producer)|Richard Wilson]] reworked the soundtrack. Welles returned and cut 20 minutes from the film at Republic's request and recorded narration to cover gaps. The film was decried as a disaster. ''Macbeth'' had influential fans in Europe, especially the French poet and filmmaker [[Jean Cocteau]], who hailed the film's "crude, irreverent power" and careful shot design, and described the characters as haunting "the corridors of some dreamlike subway, an abandoned coal mine, and ruined cellars oozing with water."<ref>{{cite web|last=Williams|first=Tony|title=Macbeth|url=http://www.sensesofcinema.com/2006/cteq/macbeth-2/|work=[[Senses of Cinema]]|access-date=September 1, 2011|date=February 6, 2006|archive-date=January 14, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120114135546/http://www.sensesofcinema.com/2006/cteq/macbeth-2/|url-status=live}}</ref>